# Popular songs that give terrible advice **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [February 5, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343 "2023-02-05T16:00:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/61 "2023-02-05T19:45:17Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I don’t think Highway to Hell is giving advice, just telling you what the singer is up to. He isn’t advising you to do it. In fact, he’s warning everyone that all this fun partying is, well, the highway to hell. I don’t think it was really a warning. The “Highway to Hell” was a nickname for the Canning Highway in Australia that led from Bon Scott’s home to a bunch of his favorite bars and pubs. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/62 "2023-02-05T19:50:06Z")
Paul Simon’s 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover gives some pretty bad advice for breaking up with someone. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/63 "2023-02-05T20:00:11Z")
Roxy Music anyone? Put your foot down round the bend Drive me crazy to an early grave Tell me what is there to save tonight Both Ends Burning j ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/64 "2023-02-05T20:01:51Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Roxy Music anyone? > > Put your foot down round the bend > Drive me crazy to an early grave > Tell me what is there to save tonight > > Both Ends Burning In this vein: was “It’s better to burn out than to fade away” good advice? Not for Kurt Cobain, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/65 "2023-02-05T20:03:25Z")
Yeahbut-- he’s not giving anyone any advice in this song. He’s getting high and talking shit. Naming the road between their homes the Highway to Hell is not an endorsement. Maybe if it was the Highway to Heaven. . … ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/66 "2023-02-05T20:13:51Z")
Man, I forgot The Only Ones Why don’t you kill yourself? You ain’t no use to no-one else j ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/67 "2023-02-05T20:43:34Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “The best you can do is die in your sleep” is an incredibly low bar for living your life. And ultimately urges you to just give up. I took it to mean that gamblers inevitably face this stark fate. And the lesson is therefore: don’t be a gambler. But the singer/narrator describing his encounter with the gambler realized that there was wisdom in his advice applicable to other walks of life. E.g., he took a gamble in writing the words down, and got a hit song out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/68 "2023-02-05T20:51:10Z")
Tie your mother down Tie your mother down Take your little brother swimming with a brick - that’s all right! ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/69 "2023-02-05T21:23:38Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > > > Roxy Music anyone? > > > > Put your foot down round the bend > > Drive me crazy to an early grave > > Tell me what is there to save tonight > > > > Both Ends Burning > > In this vein: was “It’s better to burn out than to fade away” good advice? Not for Kurt Cobain, that’s for sure. More in this vein. It’s not exactly advice, and this is from memory, but uncle Lou said: Some like wine and some like hops But what I really love is my Scotch Its the power, the power of positive drinking…. (With which he then drank himself to death). j ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/70 "2023-02-05T21:36:07Z")
I think it’s naive to suggest that any problem can be solved by whipping it. Also: love is great and all, but it’s naive to suggest that all you need is love. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/71 "2023-02-05T21:44:31Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Also: love is great and all, but it’s naive to suggest that all you need is love. Naive, but certainly time-honored. 1 Corinthians 13 declares that without love, you have nothing, which a sort of restatement of what the Beatles said. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/72 "2023-02-05T21:56:36Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > 1 Corinthians 13 declares that without love, you have nothing, which a sort of restatement of what the Beatles said. You may be confusing _necessary_ and _sufficient_ conditions. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/73 "2023-02-05T22:04:38Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Wine is fine, but whiskey’s quicker You need to pay more attention to the lyrics. That song isn’t advising you to drink. It’s a warning about the dangers of alcohol. The title “Suicide Solution” literally means drinking yourself to death. The song was written by Bob Daisley, Ozzy’s bass player, and is about Ozzy’s struggle with alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/74 "2023-02-05T22:06:04Z")
Uncle Lou also sang Heroin, which may or may not be an advice, but the way he puts it, it sure sounds… tempting. I know several versions of this songs, all by him. I wonder whether anyone ever covered it, but if someone did I guess it does not sound as good. > [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > 1 Corinthians 13 declares that without love, you have nothing, which a sort of restatement of what the Beatles said. I am not sure you got the order of who is restating whom right there. But if I had to chose (which I don’t but I’ll do anyway) I’d stick with the Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/75 "2023-02-05T22:21:14Z")
“Don’t Let It Show” from the Alan Parson Project album “I, Robot”. I love the music and the mood it creates, but IME if you’re having a hard time bottling up your feelings is bad. [Alan Parsons Project - Don't Let It Show - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUqpKESew5A) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/76 "2023-02-05T22:36:35Z")
If you got that loose, you wanna kick them blues, Cocaine. When your day is done, and you wanna run, Cocaine. She don’t lie, she don’t lie, she don’t lie, Cocaine. Clapton waffled a bit, saying it was up to the listener to decide whether the song was pro-drug or anti-drug, but the “anti” interpretation, if it is there at all, is pretty subtle. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/77 "2023-02-05T22:48:00Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Clapton waffled a bit, saying it was up to the listener to decide whether the song was pro-drug or anti-drug, but the “anti” interpretation, if it is there at all, is pretty subtle. He didn’t write it anyway, it was a J.J. Cale cover (and the original is much better). ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/78 "2023-02-05T23:17:47Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > If you got that loose, you wanna kick them blues, > Cocaine. > When your day is done, and you wanna run, > Cocaine. > **She don’t lie, she don’t lie, she don’t lie,** > Cocaine. > > Clapton waffled a bit, saying it was up to the listener to decide whether the song was pro-drug or anti-drug, but the “anti” interpretation, if it is there at all, is pretty subtle. This is news to me. I’ve been mishearing the lyrics all these years. I thought it was “she does lines, she does line, she does lines.” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/79 "2023-02-05T23:20:40Z")
I always heard it as “she’s alright” or “she’s so fine”. But all the lyric websites I checked say “she don’t lie”. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343/80 "2023-02-05T23:21:24Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > This is news to me. I’ve been mishearing the lyrics all these years. I thought it was “she does lines, she does line, she does lines.” I misheard it for years as “She don’t like, she don’t like…”. and assumed it was anti-drugs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-give-terrible-advice/979343.md?page=5)